Not since the goldrush roughly 170 years back have Victoria’s natural resources been pillaged and plundered with the kind of ruthless efficiency now being employed by star trainer Jason Grimson.
Only now, rather than precious metals, Grimson is targeting standardbreds and, more recently, Victorian prizemoney.
In many ways, Grimson’s extraordinary evolution from boutique talent to Grand Circuit superhero started just 12 months ago when Boncel Benjamin claimed Inter Dominion glory via protest at Tabcorp Park Menangle.
At the time, Boncel Benjamin had been sent to Grimson by Victorian mentor Steven Duffy having enjoyed some strong, if slightly short of spectacular form in his native jurisdiction.
For pacing lovers that had followed Boncel Benjamin’s career to that point, the concept he could possibly claim success in Australasia’s most prestigious series seemed somewhere between staggering and preposterous.
Little did they know that he was the template, not the outlier.
Since then, Grimson has carved an extraordinary swathe through the southern hemisphere’s greatest races following an amazing philosophy.
And that philosophy is thus.
Identify gifted but far-from-elite Victorian sit-sprinters, strengthen them with his outrageously effective regime and then take a sword to the largest prizes Australasian pacing has to offer.
Not only has this paradigm netted multiple Group 1, Grand Circuit victories in rapid succession, it’s also gathered steam at supernatural speed.
Following Boncel Benjamin’s Inter Dominion triumph, Majestic Cruiser took over, first finishing second in The Race by Grins - the first pacing slot contest in Australasian history - then claiming the Blacks A Fake during Queensland’s winter carnival.
Then, more recently, we’ve watched on as the former Brent Lilley-trained I Cast No Shadow beat all-comers in the Group 1 Len Smith Mile before sprinting his way to victory in the 2022 Inter Dominion Grand Final at Melton.
Amazing as these efforts have been, one suspects Grimson’s latest acquisition, Major Meister, might outshine all who’ve come before him.
In two starts for the freakish, New South Wales-based trainer, Major Meister has broken the clock over 1710m at Ballarat and then secured the Group 1 Cranbourne Cup over 2555m on Saturday night.
In winning that Cranbourne Cup, Major Meister beat two-time ID heat winner Mach Dan and also Victoria Cup king Rock N Roll Doo.
What Grimson has already achieved is mindboggling.
What might be still to come is something else again.
Pictures: Grimson and I Cast No Shadow by Amanda Rando
Mercurial as he can sometimes be, Andy Gath’s pocket rocket Majestuoso sure has collated some sort of career.
On Saturday night at Cranbourne, little ‘Maj’ landed his sixth Group 1 success in the time-honoured Bruce Skeggs Memorial Trotters Cup.
From 59 starts, Majestuoso now has 28 wins, 20 placings and prizemoney closing in on $700,000.
And he’s far from done yet, with many classic clashes coming between himself, Just Believe, Queen Elida, Im Ready Jet and several others between now and mid-March on the horizon.
The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.